According to bibliographical data in Les Significations…, its writing started in 1558, shortly after the completion of the Almanach 1559.³ The writing was finished on August 14, 1558.⁴ Les Significations… was published in Paris by Guillaume le Noir. Le Noir did not mention the year of publishing.⁵

   In 1589, Jean-Aimé de Chavigny published Receuil des présages prosaiques de m. Michel de Nostradame in Grenoble. The Recueil… contains the “Présages en vers”, which is a compilation of 151 four-line verses, known as “the Présages”, and twelve books (the “Présages en prose”) with commentaries on “Almanachs” and “Pronostications”. The September 1559 Lunar Eclipse is the subject of comments in the last part of book 4.⁶

   In 1879, the French abbot Henri Torné-Chavigny wrote a letter in which he discussed the relation between Les Significations… and the decease of Henry II. He also mentioned borrowings from the Eclipsium omnium 1554 - 1606, written by Leovitius in 1556.⁷

   In 1904, Les Significations… was reprinted in facsimile by Henri Douchet in Méricourt-l’Abbé, thanks to the French abbot Hector Rigaux. The above-mentioned letter from Torné-Chavigny was added as a kind of preface. Copies of the 1904-reprint are preserved in the British Library, the French National Library and the Paul Arbaud Museum in Aix-en-Provence, France.⁸

   Halbronn noted that this prediction contains no allusion to the fatal accident of Henry II on June 30, 1559, nor to his decease on July 10, 1559, and considered it highly dubious that Nostradamus predicted this event.¹²

   In Les Significations…, a conjunction was mentioned between Mars in the eighth house of the horoscope of the Eclipse and the Fixed Star Antares. This was copied from the Eclipsium omnium… and elaborated.¹³ According to Les Significations…, this Mars-Antares conjunction points to violent and sudden deaths and someone’s decease in public.¹⁴ According to Halbronn, this conjunction points to the nature of the fatal accident of Henry II : a deadly wound near the eye.¹⁵ Despite this, he maintained his thesis that the allusions to the decease of Henry II and Francis II were made after their decease.

   Another reason for Halbronn to doubt the authenticity of Les Significations… was the abbreviation “H.T.H.N.S.” This abbreviation has the same features as the abbreviations, written by De Chavigny in his “Pléiades”.¹⁶

   In June 2003, an examination of astrological data in Les Significations… lead to new findings.²⁰ Mars was also mentioned in the introductory part. According to this part, Mars was located in the midst of heaven, in square with the South Lunar Node.²¹ A recalculation of the horoscope of the Eclipse with present-day software showed that the zodiacal longitude of Mars was 5:25:48 Capricorn, conjunct the MC on 0:45:01 Capricorn. According to these calculations, Mars was in the tenth house (the midst of heaven) and in square with the South Lunar Node on 0:15:23 Libra. There were no planets in the eighth house. The Grandes Ephémérides by Gabriel (Trédaniel publishers, Paris, volume 1) also showed a zodiacal longitude of Mars in the beginning of Capricorn.²² When the zodiacal longitude of Mars would be 7:32 Sagittarius, Mars could not be in square with the South Lunar Node.

   The findings about the zodiacal longitude of Mars lead to two important conclusions. The first conclusion was that the horoscope of the Eclipse, drawn by Leovitius, contains a mistake. Mars is not located on 7:32 Sagittarius in the eighth house, but on the sixth degree of Capricorn in the tenth house, conjunct the MC. The reference by Leovitius to a Mars-Antares conjunction in the eighth house is wrong and his predictions, based on this conjunction in the eighth house, are invalid.

   Nostradamus knew the Ptolemaic rules regarding the determination of the time span of a Lunar Eclipse. In the Pronostication nouvelle pour l’an mil cinq cens cinquante & huict, he discussed the Lunar Eclipse of April 2, 1558, 12:32. Its impact would last several months. Nostradamus referred to Ptolemy, without the mentioning of a pre-impact :

   Regarding the length of the impact, the title reads that the impact begins on September 16, 1559, and ends in the beginning of 1560. The end date, given by Leovitius in his description of the hours of duration of the Eclipse and the length of the time span, is January 4, 1560. He applied the Ptolemaic rules regarding the determination of the time span of a Lunar Eclipse. He also specified the calculation of this time span.

   According to the Eclipsium omnium…, the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse started at 16:05 and ended at 19:47. Its duration was 3 hours and 42 minutes. In the case of this Eclipse, 1 hour equals 30 days ; 30 minutes equal 15 days, 15 minutes equal 7,5 days, 5 minutes equal 2,5 day and 1 minute equals 0,5 day. The 3 hours and 42 minutes equal 112 days. Counting from September 16, 1559 as day #1, the impact ends on January 4, 1560 = day #112.

   It looks as if the full French title of Les Significations… also indicates a time span of several months :

   The words “jusques à l’an 1560” seem to mean : until the year 1560, instead of : including the year 1560.

   In “Présages en prose”, book 4, section “D’un autre presage sur la mesme année [1559]”, item #342 reads :

   The impact starts in March 1559 and is clearly noticeable from June 1559. This is based on “Mars, the ruler of the Eclipse, located in the tenth house”.²⁸ The time span begins in March 1559, 6 months before the Eclipse. The time span ends at the end of 1560, almost 15 months after the Eclipse. Included and emphasized are: the fatal accident of Henry II on June 30, 1559, his decease on July 10, 1559, and the decease of Francis II on December 5, 1560.

   The second argument for the time span until the end of 1560 is a supposed Mars-Saturn opposition, copied from the horoscope, calculated by Leovitius.²⁹ In this horoscope, Mars on 7:32 Sagittarius is opposite Saturn retrograde on 9:15 Gemini. However, the zodiacal longitude of Mars in Sagittarius is incorrect. Mars is located in Capricorn. There is no Mars-Saturn opposition.

   The time span until the end of 1560 is also given in “Présages en prose”, book 4, section “Extrait des commentaires sur l’an 1557”, item #187 :

   It looks as if this prediction must be read in the context of the preceding items (#184-186) and especially the first line of #186, from which an allusion to the decease of both Henry II and Francis II can be derived :

   This means that the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse will cause religious troubles. These kind of troubles are also mentioned in item #130, which deals with June 1559, as a kind of pre-impact of the Eclipse :

   The impact of the Lunar Eclipse on religious matters is also described in item #184, following the présage for September 1559 :

   Book 4 also contains parts of “another prediction for the same year”.³⁵ This set of predictions contains an introduction, dedicated to the cardinal of Lorraine. In item #305, the impact of the Lunar Eclipse on religious matters is described like this :

   All these descriptions point to religious troubles. In astrology, Jupiter indicates religious matters. At the time of the Lunar Eclipse, Jupiter was, according to present-day software, on 10:31:00 Pisces in the twelfth house, retrograde, in square with Saturn retrograde on 6:36:16 Gemini in the second house.

   De Chavigny went out of his way to prove that Nostradamus predicted the decease of Henry II and the circumstances of his fatal accident, whether in an “Almanach”, a “Pronostication” or in Les Significations…

   According to De Chavigny, Nostradamus predicted the decease of Henry II in most early 1557. The “Présages en prose”, book 2, contains commentaries on 1556 and 1557. In the section which is entitled “Des présages de l’an 1557”, item #223 reads :

   De Chavigny wrote in the margin :

   Henry II was born on March 31, 1519. On that date, the Sun was on the 20th degree of Aries. Apparently, this made De Chavigny to relate #223 with Henry II. He interpreted the words sub Ariete (“under Aries”) as a reference to the Sun sign of Henry II.

   In “Présages en prose”, book 3, section “D’un autre presage sur la mesme année [1558]”, item #257 reads :

   De Chavigny wrote in the margin :

   Originally, this prediction was meant for June 28, 1558. The interpretation by De Chavigny is one year and two days off. The day (June 30), turns out to be cited not correctly.

   In “Présages en prose”, book 4, section “extrait des commentaires sur l’an 1559”, item #130 also deals with June 1559 regarding the supposed pre-impact of the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse. The next item, #131, deals with a Last Quarter, which according to present-day software occurred on June 27, 1559, around 22:00 :

   In the margin, De Chavigny noted :

   Item #133 reads :

   In the margin, De Chavigny noted :

   Item #134 does not mention anything about the decease of Henry II, as noted by Halbronn in 1999 :

   De Chavigny, however, thinks Nostradamus wrote this to disguise the impending decease :

   Regarding the decease of Henry II, two dates are important: June 30, 1559, the date of the fatal accident, and July 10, 1559, the date of his decease. The comments of De Chavigny deal - directly or indirectly - with the date of the fatal accident of Henry II, which resulted in his decease. Apparently, he did not find any prediction that referred to the decease date.

   In “Présages en prose”, book 4, section “D’un autre presage sur la mêsme année [1559]”, item #318 reads :

   In the margin, De Chavigny notes :

   It must be noted that the fatal accident of Henry II occurred on June 30, 1559, i.e. 2,5 weeks after the beginning of the summer, instead of halfway the spring season.

   In La premiere face du Ianus François, De Chavigny also discussed the decease of Henry II. In the “Brief Discours sur la vie de m. Michel de Nostredame”, he writes about commentaries of Nostradamus, especially on July 1559.⁴¹ De Chavigny refers to the decease of Henry II. Regarding the Centuries, this is the only historical fact to which he refers. He adds the decease of Henry II to Nostradamus’ “palmares of predictions”. However, there is no document in which Nostradamus comments July 1559.

   While commenting the Présage for January 1559, he wrote that the decease of Henry II was the preparation to all succeeding troubles.⁴²

   The only part of the writings of Leovitius regarding the 1559-Lunar Eclipse which was copied in Les Significations… was the “praedictio astrologica…”. The first two lines of the “predictio astrologica…” are translated in the beginning of Les Significations…. The remarks about the length of the impact of the (March 1559 - end 1560) and about Mars in the midst of heaven, were not borrowed from Leovitius. The seventh line of the “praedictio astrologica…” (Cum autem eclipsis Lunae in gradu 2.Arietis fiat…) is translated at the end of p.449 of the Chevignard edition. Everything in between in the Chevignard-edition is added.

   The few predictions by Leovitius are heavily elaborated. The sentence “Tertio cum Mars dispositor eclipsis octauam domum occupet…” is in translated form located in the midst of p.451 of the Chevignard edition. The impact of the Mars-Antares conjunction is heavily elaborated, next the French text follows more or less the text of the “praedictio astrologica...” until 1/3 of p. 452 of the Chevignard edition. Then a series of additions follow, including the H.T.H.N.S.-abbreviation, and only on 1/3 of p.453 of the Chevignard edition, the original text by Leovitius re-occurs with remarks about Jupiter in the twelfth house. Next, there is a series of elaborations until pp. 454 - 455 of the Chevignard edition (the remarks about Venus in trine with Jupiter). The closing part of the “praedictio astrologica…” is broken into pieces on pp. 459 - 460 of the Chevignard-edition. The zodiacal signs and regions, mentioned at the end of p.459 and the beginning of p.460, are not copied from “predictio astrologica…”.

   The predictions of Leovitius were based on four astrological arguments. The supposed Mars-Antares conjunction was the third argument :

   In Les Significations… this sentence was translated in :

   The reference to the third argument of Leovitius was omitted.

   The fourth and last argument of Leovitius was the location of Jupiter in the twelfth house :

   In Les Significations…, this sentence was translated in :

   Although the translation follows more or less the original text in the Eclipsium omnium…, the words “finablement, par le dernier poinct” don’t make sense, since in Les Significations… there is no mentioning of three other arguments.

   In Les Significations…, the year 1605 is mentioned :

   This addition is not given in the Eclipsium omnium…. Chances are that the author of Les Significations… elaborated the fact that the Solar Eclipse of October 2, 1605 was the last Eclipse, treated by Leovitius in the Eclipsium omnium….⁴⁷ Leovitius noted that there would be no visible Eclipse in 1606.

   In all horoscopes of the Solar and Lunar Eclipses, given in the Eclipsium omnium…, the zodiacal longitudes of the Sun and the Moon are given for the exact date and time moment of the Eclipses, with an exactitude of seconds of arc. In the Pronostication nouvelle pour l’an mil cinq cens cinquante & huict, Nostradamus discusses the Lunar Eclipse of April 2, 1558, 12:32. The given zodiacal longitude of the Moon at the time of the Eclipse was 15:44 Libra.⁴⁸ Present-day software shows that April 2, 1558, 12:32, is not related to midnight, April 2, 1558, but to noon, April 2, 1558 and must be converted into April 3, 1558, 0:32. The given zodiacal longitude of the Moon (15:44 Libra) is the zodiacal longitude of the Moon on April 2, 1558, 12:00 True Local Time in Venice (15:26:46 Libra). Videl (1558) supposed that he copied noon positions from ephemeredes, calculated for Venice, and did not calculate exact zodiacal longitudes for given time moments.⁴⁹ The converted day and time moment (April 3, 1558, 0:32), corresponds with calculations with present-day software for Venice. The zodiacal longitude of the Moon: 22:27:27 Libra. According to Leovitius, this Lunar Eclipse occurred on April 2, 1558, 13:01 = April 3, 1558, 01:01 True Local Time for Augsburg. The zodiacal longitude of the Moon: 22:44:13 Libra.

   De Chavigny overlooked the incompatibility of the two series of horoscope data, given in Les Significations…. Item #444 deals with Mars in the midst of heaven.⁵¹ Item #456 deals with Mars in the eighth house, conjunct Antares.⁵²

   Throughout the treatise, De Chavigny maintains the time span from March 1559 to the end of 1560.⁵³

   There are two items which differ essentially from Les Significations…. Item #450 of the “treatise” reads :

   In Les Significations…, the original line reads :

   In the “treatise”, the mentioning of Pisces in Les Significations… is omitted, the “second degree” is printed in numbers and the nature of the Eclipse (a Lunar one) is specified.

   In the Eclipsium omnium…, this sentence reads :

   In this case, the text of the treatise by De Chavigny is a literal translation of the text by Leovitius.

   Item #460 of the “treatise” reads :

   In Les Significations…, this sentence reads :

   In the “treatise”, the altitude degrees are omitted.

   In the Eclipsium omnium…, the original line reads :

         - Astrological references to two horoscopes of the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse.

         - The contents (with elaborations and additions) of “praedictio astrologica ad annum domini 1559. & 1560” by Leovitius.

         - A reply to critics of Nostradamus.

   The predictions in Les Significations… run from March 1559 to the end of 1560.

   In the case of the April 1558 Lunar Eclipse, Nostradamus quoted and applied the Ptolemaic rules regarding the time span of the impact, without any change. In the case of the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse, “Présages en prose”, book 4, section “D’un autre presage sur la mêsme année [1559]”, item #342 indicates that Nostradamus, according to the Ptolemaic rules, calculated a time span of about 3,5 months, counting from September 1559.

   According to Leovitius, the time span of the impact of the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse ran from September 16, 1559, until January 4, 1560. The fatal accident and decease of Henry II took place before September 16, 1559. The decease of Francis II took place after January 4, 1560. Both these events could never have been predicted by means of the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse, since they are beyond the time span of its impact. This Eclipse has no relation with the fatal accident and decease of Henry II or the decease of Francis II.

   In Les Significations…, the original time span of the impact of the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse was revised deliberately in both directions: an earlier beginning, a later end. The purpose was to relate the Eclipse to the fateful events to the Valois dynasty. Such an act could only have been done after December 5, 1560, the date of the decease of Francis II. This means that the writing of Les Significations… was not finished on August 14, 1558, but started somewhere after December 5, 1560.

   The astrological arguments regarding the time span of about 21 months are untruthful. In Les Significations…, two horoscopes are used. One of them contains the correct position of Mars: the tenth house, the sixth degree of Capricorn. This position is supposed to imply the time span of 21 months since Mars is the ruler of the Eclipse. In the other horoscope, copied from the Eclipsium omnium…, Mars is located in the eighth house on 7:32 Sagittarius, conjunct Antares and in opposition with Saturn retrograde. This configuration too is supposed to imply the time span of 21 months. Leaving the incompatibility aside, traditional rules show that the length of the time span of the impact of an Eclipse depends on whether it is a Solar or Lunar Eclipse. The time span of the impact is calculated by converting the duration of an Eclipse. The position of the ruler of the Eclipse or other planets is not relevant.

   The author of Les Significations… did not realize the incompatibility of the two horoscopes ; neither did he realize that he used two zodiacal longitudes of Mars to launch his predictions. He also overlooked the fact that Leovitius specified his calculation of the time span of the Eclipse.

   The authenticity of Les Significations… is also dubious because of the original predictions regarding the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse. In “Présages en prose”, book 4, the comments on series of predictions for 1559, it was mentioned four to five times that its impact would be on religion. In Les Significations…, the emphasis changed from religious troubles into troubles for the Valois dynasty.

   Regarding the borrowings from the Eclipsium omnium… in Les Significations… it must be noted that in Pronostication nouvelle pour l’an mil cinq cens cinquante & huict, Nostradamus only discussed the April 2 1558 Lunar Eclipse. Leovitius discussed both the April 2 1558 Lunar Eclipse and the April 18 Solar Eclipse. Nostradamus listed the April 18 1558 Solar Eclipse as an ordinary New Moon.

   According to the 1558-Pronostication, the zodiacal longitude of the Moon during the April 2 1558 Lunar Eclipse was 15:44 Libra. In reality, 15:44 Libra was the noon longitude of the Moon on April 2, 1558. The Lunar Eclipse occurred on April 3, 1558, shortly after midnight. According to Leovitius, the zodiacal longitude of the Moon at the time of this Eclipse was 22:44:13 Libra, which is confirmed by present-day software. In Eclipsium omnium…, Leovitius always presented horoscopes, calculated for the time of Eclipses, with Lunar longitudes with an exactitude of seconds of arc. In the case of the 1558-Pronostication, Nostradamus did not rely on the Eclipsium omnium…, but on ephemeris data with an exactitude of minutes of arc. If in the remaining “Almanachs” and “Pronostications”, the zodiacal longitudes of the Moon during Eclipses are in all cases the result of copying noon longitudes with an exactitude of minutes of arc, one can conclude that Nostradamus did not at all rely on the Eclipsium omnium…. This makes it very unlikely that he is the author of Les Significations...

   The astrological findings, presented in this essay, strengthen the conclusion of Halbronn that Les Significations… cannot be attributed to Nostradamus. The question is if Les Significations… is entirely written by someone else than Nostradamus or if it contains elements, which originally were written by Nostradamus.

   Around 1558, Nostradamus was heavily criticized by for example Hercules le François and Laurent Videl. It seems very well possible that he wrote a reply to his critics. This reply, or elements of it, might be included in Les Significations…

   It seems impossible that in 1558 Nostradamus wrote a treatise on the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse which later was included in Les Significations…. Nostradamus applied the Ptolemaic rules regarding time spans of Eclipses. It is impossible that he counted with a time span of 21 months. Astrological data in the 1558-Pronostication regarding the April 2 1558 Lunar Eclipse and the April 18 1558 Solar Eclipse (classified as an ordinary New Moon) raise the question if Nostradamus ever relied on the Eclipsium omnium…

   There are reasons to consider De Chavigny as the author or compiler of Les Significations…. His purpose of writing / compiling Les Significations… might have been to convince his readers that in 1558, Nostradamus, facing his critics, managed it to predict the decease of Henry II and Francis II, which would be the prelude to the religious wars in France that would begin in 1562. One might also say that these wars were preceded by an Eclipse, an almost classic omen.

   He desperately wanted to prove that Nostradamus predicted the circumstances of the decease of Henry II and the decease of Francis II. In his comments upon the fatal accident and decease of Henry II, however, he distorted the original predictions more than once. He even mentioned documents which don’t exist, such as an explanation by Nostradamus of the second Century or his explanations on July 1559.

   In his treatise on the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse, De Chavigny quoted literally from the Eclipsium omnium… instead of quoting from Les Significations…. This means he owned a copy of the Eclipsium omnium… Theoretically, he was able to enrich contents of this copy with his own writings.

   In his treatise on the September 1559 Lunar Eclipse, De Chavigny maintained the time span of 21 months regarding the impact of the Eclipse. He overlooked the incompatibility of the horoscopes in Les Significations…, the meaning of the full title of “praedictio astrologicae…” and the calculations by Leovitius regarding the time span of the impact. He might have overlooked this also while writing / compiling Les Significations…

Bibliography

      - Benazra, R. : Répertoire Chronologique Nostradamique, Paris, 1990.

      - Chavigny, J.-A. de : La premiere face du Ianus Francois, Lyon, 1594.

      - Chevignard, B. : Présages de Nostradamus, Saint-Amand, 1999.

      - Halbronn, J., dr. : Le texte prophétique en France. Formation et fortune, Paris, 1999. Available at .

      - Halbronn, J., dr. : Documents inexploités sur le phénomène Nostradamus, Feyzin, 2002.

      - Leovitius, C. : Eclipsium omnium 1554 - 1605, Augsburg, 1556.

      - Microsoft / Het Spectrum (publishers) : Encarta ® Winkler Prins 2001 basiseditie. Amsterdam, 2002.

      - Ptolemy, C. : Tetrabiblos, Den Haag, 1985.

      - Schors (publishers) : AstroScoop Plus for Windows 9x/NT, Amsterdam, 1999.

      - Videl, L. : Déclaration des abus, ignorances et seditions de Michel Nostradamus, Avignon, 1558.

² Chevignard, p. 443. Retour